The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-01-21
WONDERS OF NEW YORK.
What the Metropolis Has to show In the
Way of Great Achievements.

"hhL TIC meIrOpollS Has 70 SNOW III the
Way of Great Achievements.
A friend from a distance who intends
to make a flying visit to this city, and
wishes to make the best use of bis
limited time, writes to ask what are the
great sights" of New York. Evil
YOU" he writes. ''clothe yourself with
the discriminating judgment of a Philo
of Byzantium and name the seven
wonders of New York; The seven
wonders of the ancient world, accord
ing to this writer, were the pyramids,
the hanging gardens at Babylon, the
temple of Diana at Ephesus, the statue
OF Jupiter at Athens, the mausoleum,
the Colossus at Rhodes, and the Pharos
of Alexander. Now what are the cor
responding wonders of New York;"
1t would be easy to make fun of this
application, but treated seriously it
opens an interesting field of inquiry.
What might be named as the seven
most remarkable achievements of mind
over matter that this city can showp
We put this query to a number of citi-
zens, and the lists they returned will
make a basis for a tentative one of our
own selection, upon which we invite the
criticism of our readers, in order that
our friend from the provinces may get
the benefit of every point of view.
One list is as follows: The Brooklyn
bridge, the ~agueduct, statue of Liberty,
the elevated railroads, any large Office
building, including the elevator system,
fourteen-story flats. the Central depot
nnH aN.rNabn. A1thn. let xooI1.
Brooklyn bridge, statue of Liberty, arti-
fetal channel at He'll gate, produce ex-
change building, Casino theatre, st.
Patrick's cathedral. John L. Sullivan.
A third is: Brooklyn bridge, elevated
railroads, statue of Liberty, High
bridge, Grants tomb, ~sub-treasury
vaults, ST. Patrick's cathedral. And a
fourth makes these selections: Brook.
lyn bridge, Vanderbilt viaduct, Navarro
flats, statue of Liberty. the elevated
railroads, Central park, Coney island.
1t will be seen hat all opinions con.
cur in putting the Brooklyn bridge and
the statue of Liberty among the seven
wonders. Three of the four include in
the list the elevated railroad system.
Two name ST. Patrick's cathedral, a
representative apartment-house of the
sky-scraping pattern, and the railroad
engineering work of the Vanderbilt
roads from the Harlem river to the
Grand Central depot as worthy to be
classed in the list. By including High
bridge under the general appellation OF
the aqueduct two OF the Jurors would
agree also to include that great work in
the schedule of wonders.
There remain q number of works that
are well worthy of consideration, though
named by only a single juror. Grants
tomb. for instance, possesses a human
interest which is unique. Whatever
may be the architectural display at the
spot, its chief interest to visitors will
consist in the patriotic associations
which center there. The tomb is prop
erly included IN any list of scenes in
and about New York which an Ameri-
can visitor should see.
Then there is the sub-treasury build
ing, not impressive in architecture, but
wonderful as a national treasure-house.
Here the visitor may see the largest
amount OF metallic money to be found
in any building on the continent, if not
in the world, and greater, probably,
than any similar collection of antiquity.
This fact certainly invests the SUBJ
treasury with a peculiar interest.
Another suggestive selection is Central
park, and Coney island is still another.
Much that is wonderful is expressed by
each of these titles. The He'll gate inn
provements are truly remarkaDie. Our
large ofiice-buildings are also amazing,
and they are an absolute novelty in the
world, Solomon to the contrary not.
withstanding. And then the glimpse al
modern business afforded by a visit to
the produce or the stock exchange is
fairly to be ranked among the greatest
of metropolitan marvels. The beautiful
Casino theatcr is a gem in its way, and
few would dispute the claims of Mr..
John l.. Sullivan TO pre-eminence in
his l:ne. Ii anybody does dispute those
claims, that is tine man, as we under.
stand il, that MI. John L. Sullivan il
looking for.
Now, out of these lists, we venture to
suggest, under correction. that the
seven wonders of New York are: The
Brooklyn bridge, the statue of Liberty,
the elevated railroad system. the great
flats, Central park, the Vanderbilt via
duct, and the sub-treasury vaults. But,
as we have said. we are willing to hear
criticism or this selection.-New York
Commercial advertiser.